Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama was born in 1460 or 1469. Unlike the other explorers on this site, he is Portuguese, not Spanish.

Vasco da Gama set out on his first voyage on July 8, 1497, from Lisbon, Portugal, where he discovered the tip of South Africa and the cape. In 1498, he found present-day Mozambique. Later that year he entered an area called "Mombasa", in the vicinity of modern-day Kenya. During this voyage, he found another part of India, opening another way for the Portuguese to get to India.

He died on December 24, 1524, in Portuguese India.